Tiger Woods walks off the seventh green during the third round of the Honda Classic at PGA National on Saturday. / Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Clawing and scratching through another round, Tiger Woods failed to put himself in position to pounce in Sunday's final round of the Honda Classic.

His last chance to give himself at least a chance for a come-from-behind win ended at the par-3 17th hole in Saturday's third round when his tee shot embedded in the muddy bank fronting the green. After a long search by Woods and his playing companion, David Lynn, and their caddies failed to locate the ball, Woods had to go back to the tee to hit his third shot. The resulting double-bogey 5 dropped Woods from red numbers to even par.

At the finishing hole, the par-5 18th, Woods knocked his second shot into the bleachers but salvaged a par to finish with his third consecutive even-par 70 on the Champion Course at PGA National.

With the leaders yet to begin play, Woods was nine shots out of the lead. After the round, Woods stood eight shots back of Luke Guthrie and Michael Thompson, who shared the lead at 8-under par.

Woods had a nine-shot deficit last year starting the final round and wound up just two shots shy of eventual winner Rory McIlroy after firing a career-best final-round 62.

But with unfavorable conditions for a comeback like that - soft greens, high rough and cool temperatures - Woods is highly unlikely to scare the top of the leaderboard in the final round.

"I was playing really solidly all day," Woods said. "I caught a bad mud ball at 10 and I hit a slice hook and then made bogey there, and then 18, I hit another bad one and hit a hook-slice. And then on 17, just stuck it in the ground a little bit, caught the wind and rode it over there and ended up making double.

"Realistically, if you play well, you can shoot about 5 or 6 under par, there's no doubt. There are some accessible pins. The greens are perfectly smooth out there. They are not that fast so you can be pretty aggressive."

Woods made birdies on two of his first three holes and added another at No. 8 from 30 feet which sent a buzz through the cool air. But his play wasn't in top form - he scrambled to save par with outstanding bunker shots and solid par putts on holes 4, 7 and 9.

A bogey from the fairway on the 10th hole deflated his momentum balloon. He didn't make another birdie the rest of the round.

"I thought realistically 5 or 6 under par would be a good score, and I thought if I could post that I would be within six or seven shots of the lead going into tomorrow at worst," said Woods, who won his 75th Tour title earlier this year at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. "I'll just go out there and execute (tomorrow), simple as that, same thing I do every day. Hopefully I'll get it going early.

"It's not that far off. I feel like I'm probably just not quite driving it as well. I'm driving it long. I'm just not quite driving it as well. My iron game is pretty good and my short game is way better than it was at Torrey. I feel very comfortable with my putting, with what I'm doing, so I need to obviously get it in play a little bit more and attack from there, because everything else is pretty good."